Home » Written by Youth » Getting Creative with Thanksgiving Traditions
A rainbow turkey colored in marker by a child

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! To you this may mean watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, breaking the coveted wishbone for good fortune, gathering around the television for a football game, or doing everyone’s favorite … eating Thanksgiving dinner! 

Whether it be the stuffing your aunt made, the turkey that Dad carefully carved and basted, Mom’s “to-die-for” mashed potatoes, or the cranberry sauce Grandma brings, Thanksgiving is always full of traditions! Though these traditions are very different from one another, each one has its own unique reasoning for why it is special to each individual family. 

Though many traditions date far back into previous generations, it is never too late to find new traditions and begin adding them into your Thanksgiving celebrations! 

Oprah Daily listed over 30 creative Thanksgiving traditions. My favorite ones include the following: 

Write down what you’re grateful for … but not in the generic way! 

Leave a can of sharpies at a dinner table with a white tablecloth. Each guest who sits at this table, along with those who pass by, must stop and write one thing they are grateful for. Continually use this tablecloth each year to remind each guest the true meaning of Thanksgiving — gratitude!

Invite each of your guests to bring one or more canned goods. 

Make a collection box and take each of the contributions to a local food bank or family in your community. This way they too can enjoy a Thanksgiving feast that otherwise may not have been an option.

When everyone gathers together after dinner to converse, ask each one of them to draw from a jar the name of another guest. 

Hand out papers and pens to each person after they have all chosen a name. Leaving them completely anonymous, have each guest write a kind letter explaining why they are grateful for the person they have chosen. Read each letter aloud to your guests. This activity will help to develop a more sincere appreciation for one another.

Lastly, host a pie competition! 

Ask each guest if they would like to participate by bringing a homemade pie to the celebration, and make time to vote on the best one. To make it even more fun, ask the kids in attendance to vote instead!

As mentioned in number one, the true meaning of Thanksgiving is simple, yet so meaningful: be thankful! 

It’s important that we set aside time to celebrate with friends and loved ones. Even more so, it’s essential that we each take this time to remind each other of how truly blessed we are. 

As a bonus, here are some special Thanksgiving recipes that will make the celebration one to remember: 

by Hailee Eyre (18) Cedar City/Panguitch

Feature image caption: Rainbow turkey. Courtesy Ottilie G. Escalante.


Hailee Eyre